2025-26 College Football National Championship Opening Odds: Ohio State & Texas Favored

Written By Road to CFB | Last Updated January 22, 2025

As the 2025 national championship wraps up, opening odds for the 2026 CFP title game are on the table. The best sports betting sites have released openers for the next football season, giving bettors their first glimpse at the 2025-26 market. The Ohio State Buckeyes opened as favorites, followed by the Texas Longhorns, Oregon Ducks, and Georgia Bulldogs. While these odds will change, let’s look at who opened near the top of odds boards.

While our odds board below only lists teams with odds at or better than 100-1, there are some other notable teams. The Colorado Buffaloes opened at +13000, Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels opened at +12000, and the College Football Playoff darling Arizona State Sun Devils opened at +12000.

2025-26 national championship odds

Click on the odds below to bet on the sites with the best sportsbook promos. Odds are subject to change. Scroll to see more teams.

Playoff Contenders Return Atop 2026 CFP Odds Boards

Seven of the top eight and eight of the top 10 favorites for next year’s title also played in this past season’s College Football Playoff. The four other teams (SMU, Indiana, Arizona State, and Boise State) fall further down the board, with Arizona State (+12000) and Boise State (+28000) dropping significantly. Three of the four semifinalists (Ohio State, Texas, and Penn State) also return to the top five for next year’s season.

Ohio State (+450) opened as the favorite thanks to a bottomless well of talent on the roster and a substantial transfer class addressing areas of need. The Buckeyes lose several high-level starters to the NFL yearly but can reload. This coming season appears to be no different.

Receiver Jeremiah Smith returns as a sophomore after being heralded as the top prospect (as a freshman!) should he be draft-eligible today.

Texas (+700) returns quarterback Arch Manning, a frontrunner for being the face of the sport. Manning sat behind Quinn Ewers for two years, and although not official at the time of writing, it’s expected that Ewers will move on one way or another. Multiple key pieces on defense and the offensive line depart for the NFL, but like Ohio State, Texas is a reload rather than rebuild team.

Alabama (+1700) interrupts the CFP string near the top following its first season without Nick Saban since 2006. Kalen DeBoer led the Tide to a 9-4 record — Alabama’s first season without 10 wins since 2007 — that included losses to Vanderbilt (7-6), Oklahoma (6-7), and Michigan (8-5).

Oddsmakers expect Alabama — despite losing starting quarterback Jalen Milroe to the NFL — to compete nationally.

Who Returns Their Starting Quarterback?

Thanks to the current NIL structure and inbound revenue-sharing, more draft-eligible quarterbacks return to campus than ever. Projected draft picks like Carson Beck and Mark Gronowski opted to bet on themselves and improve their stock in the transfer portal. Gronowski transferred from South Dakota State (FCS) to Iowa. Beck shocked the football world when he withdrew from the NFL draft in favor of the transfer portal.

Garrett Nussmeier tops the list of returning QBs in 2025. LSU (+2000) appears headed for the short list of teams returning their starting quarterback, head coach, and coordinators. A third of the 12 CFP teams in 2025 returned all four components in 2024. Others like Colorado State, Georgia Tech, and Nebraska saw vast improvement. Given LSU’s run of developing recent stud receivers, Nussmeier should have another strong cast to throw to this coming season.

Drew Allar announced his return to Penn State before this past CFP started. The announcement sent starter-in-waiting Beau Pribula into the transfer portal. In his season finale — a 27-24 loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl semifinal — Allar completed zero passes to wide receivers, only attempting four. With star TE Tyler Warren heading to the NFL, James Franklin has his work cut out for him this offseason. However, Allar’s return is enough to boost Penn State (+900) near the top of the odds boards.

It’s unclear whether Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart will return for one more season at the time of writing. Rumors suggest he may.